US5716099A

Movatterモバイル変換

Info

Publication number: US5716099A
Application number: US08/698,267
Authority: US
Inventors: Ronald D. McDiarmid
Original assignee: Novimex Fashion Ltd
Current assignee: NOVIMEX; Novimex Fashion Ltd
Priority date: 1996-08-14
Filing date: 1996-08-14
Publication date: 1998-02-10
Anticipated expiration: 2016-08-14

Abstract

A chair with a split seat that allows the user to comfortably position his or her feet on the floor when the seat and seat back assume a partially reclined position. The chair has a base, a seat and a cooperating bracket and arm. The seat has a central portion and a forward portion. The central portion is pivotally mounted to the base for pivoting about a first axis and the forward portion of the seat is pivotally mounted to the central portion of the seat for pivoting about a second axis that is generally parallel to the first axis. The arm is fixedly mounted to the base and has a free end located in a fixed position with respect to the support. The bracket is mounted on the forward portion of the seat and is configured to slidably engage the free end of the arm to pivot the forward portion of the seat as the central portion of the seat pivots.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates generally to chairs and, more particularly, to office type chairs that pivot rearwardly.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Chairs of this particular type typically have a base with horizontal legs extending radially outward from a vertical support. A caster is mounted at the end of each leg allow the chair to be moved easily about a floor. A seat plate is mounted to the top of the vertical support and a seat is mounted to the seat plate. A seat back is mounted adjacent to the seat to support the back of the seated person. The seat plate can include a mechanism to allow the seat to selectively pivot rearwardly with respect to the base, thereby allowing the user to assume a partially reclined position.

Office chairs designed according to the prior art are generally comfortable. Because of cost and productivity concerns, office chairs with mechanisms that allow the user to recline the chair into a fully horizontal position are not desirable. However, during those times of the workday when the user does partially recline the chair, the seat may interfere with the comfortable positioning of the user's feet and legs. In particular, because the seat remains in a position generally perpendicular to the seat back, the user's feet can be moved toward the base of the chair and can even be lifted off of the floor as the seat is partially reclined. Accordingly, one drawback of conventional office chairs is that the user can be uncomfortable because of the position of his or her legs and feet when the seat is in a reclined position. Further, in this reclined position, the base of the chair also can interfere with the comfortable placement of the user's feet.

Accordingly, there has existed a definite need for a chair with a seat that allows the user to comfortably position his or her feet on the floor when the seat and seat back assume a partially reclined position. The present invention satisfies this need and provides further related advantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is embodied in a chair with a split seat that allows the user to comfortably position his or her feet on the floor when the seat and seat back assume a partially reclined position. More particularly, the present invention is embodied in a chair comprising a base, a seat and a cooperating bracket and arm. The base has an upwardly projecting support, and the seat has a central portion and a forward portion. The central portion is pivotally mounted to the support of the base for pivoting about a first predetermined axis and the forward portion is pivotally mounted to the central portion of the seat for pivoting about a second predetermined axis that is generally parallel to the first axis.

The arm is fixedly mounted to the support of the base and has a free end located in a fixed position with respect to the support. The bracket is mounted on the forward portion of the seat and is configured to slidably engage the free end of the arm to pivot the forward portion of the seat as the central portion of the seat pivots.

One advantage associated with the invention is that the orientation of the forward seat portion advantageously changes from a generally horizontal position to a sloped position to comfortably accommodate the user's legs as the seat reclines.

Other features and advantages of the present invention shall become apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiment, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following drawings illustrate the preferred embodiment of the invention. In such drawings:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view, shown in partial cross section, of a chair with a reclining seat in an upright position;

FIG. 1A is a detailed view of the chair of FIG. 1, taken about line 1A;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view, shown in partial cross section, of the chair of FIG. 1 in a reclined position;

FIG. 2A is a detailed view of the chair of FIG. 2, taken aboutline 2A;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a seat plate and an associated bracket from the chair of FIG. 1 ; and

FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view of the seat plate and bracket of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

As shown in the exemplary drawings, and particularly in FIGS. 1 and 2, the present invention is embodied in achair 10 with a split recliningseat assembly 12 for receiving a seateduser 14. The chair has aseat assembly 12 pivotally mounted to abase 16 having asupport 18 extending upwardly from a plurality ofhorizontal legs 20.Casters 22 are mounted on theends 24 of the legs, to allow the user to roll the chair along afloor surface 26 as needed in the daily use of the chair for particular tasks. Aback support 28 is mounted to therear edge 30 of the seat assembly. As is well known in the art, the back support is sized and shaped to support the back of the user sitting in the chair.

Theseat assembly 12 includes aforward portion 32 and acentral portion 34 having

opposing edges

36 and 38 joined by ahinge 40. Each side of the hinge is mounted to its associated seat portion by screws or other suitable fasteners. The forward portion of the seat assembly has aforward edge 41, and it includes abracket 42 mounted underneath aseat cushion 44. The central portion of the seat assembly includes aseat plate 46 mounted underneath anotherseat cushion 48. Anarm 50 is mounted upon thesupport 18 of thebase 16 and projects forwardly to slidably engage thebracket 42 mounted underneath the forward portion of the seat assembly, as discussed in more detail below.

The

cushions

42 and 44 of the respective forward and

central portions

32 and 34 of theseat assembly 12 are made of foam-rubber mounted over plywood, as is well known in the art. The cushions have anouter covering 52 made of fabric, leather or any other suitable material. This outer covering is wrapped around the forward and central portions of the seat assembly to give thechair 10 an appealing appearance and to otherwise prevent objects from interfering with the movement of the seat portions. Other well known materials can be used to make the cushions, as required by particular applications.

Theseat plate 46 and thebracket 42 are shown in more detail in FIGS. 3 and 4. The seat plate has anupper wall 54 with two

ends

56 and 58. Twoopposing mounting holes 60 are located in each end of the seat plate. The holes are sized to provide for attachment of the seat plate to the bottom of thecentral portion 34 of theseat assembly 12 viamounting screws 62 or other suitable fasteners. The seat plate also has twoopposing side flanges 64 that project downwardly from the sides of the upper wall. Horizontally alignedholes 66 are located in the side flanges of the seat plate to acceptpivot pin 68 to pivotally mount the seat plate to thearm 50.

Theseat plate 46 also can include a tiltadjustment lever mechanism 70 and aspring mechanism 72 which are commonly available on chairs designed for use in an office environment. The spring mechanism biases the seat toward an upright position.

Thebracket 42 is mounted under theforward portion 32 of theseat assembly 12, and it has a rectangularupper wall 74 withmounting holes 76 adjacent to each of its corners. The upper wall of the bracket is slightly curved to accommodate the forward portion of the seat assembly, which is curved in a like manner for user comfort. Mountingscrews 78 or other suitable fasteners hold the bracket to the underside of the forward portion of the seat assembly. Two opposing L-shaped walls 80 project downwardly from the upper wall of the bracket so that their facingsurfaces 82 define alongitudinal channel 84 sized to acceptarm rollers 86 therein, as described below.

Thearm 50 has aforward end 88, arearward end 90, and abody 92 therebetween. Therollers 86 are mounted upon a rod-shaped guide 94 that is welded to the forward end of the arm. The guide has two ends 96 spaced apart a distance sufficient to allow the guide to fit within thechannel 84 of thebracket 42. The rollers each have an interior surface defining a throughhole 98 sized to fit over the ends of the guide, to facilitate the movement of the bracket with respect to the arm. The rollers can be made of nylon plastic or any other suitable material. The body of the arm has a transverse central hole therein located to align with the holes in theside flanges 64 of theseat plate 46 to receive thepivot pin 68 therein.

AU-shaped bracket 100 is mounted to therearward end 90 of thearm 50. Specifically, the upper edges of the U-shaped bracket are welded to the rearward end of the arm. The bottom of the U-shaped bracket has ahole 102 sized to accept thesupport 18 of the base 16 therein. The bottom of the U-shaped bracket is fastened to the support by way of welding or any other suitable fastener.

Thearm 50, theguide 94, thebracket 42 mounted upon theforward seat portion 32, theU-shaped bracket 100 and theseat plate 46 can be made of any metal of suitable strength that can be joined by welding. The aforementioned components can be formed by various well known manufacturing methods, such as by stamping.

With reference to FIGS. 1, 1A, 2, and 2A, the use of thechair 10 and the automatic movement of theforward portion 32 of theseat 12 to enhance the comfort of theuser 14 will now be described. The seat of the chair, like those of other office chairs, selectively pivots between an upright position (see FIG. 1) and a reclined position (see FIG. 2). In the upright position, therollers 86 on theguide 94 of thearm 50 are located toward the rearward end of thechannel 84 formed by the L-shapedwalls 80 of thebracket 42 mounted on the underside of the forward seat portion. As the user reclines the seat, theforward edge 38 of thecentral portion 34 of the seat assembly pivots upwardly, thereby moving theadjacent edge 36 of the forward seat portion upwardly in the direction of arrow A.

Keeping in mind that ahinge 40 connects theforward seat portion 32 to thecentral seat portion 34, the upward movement of the forward seat portion causes thebracket 42 to move upward with respect to thearm 50, which is stationary. Thus, when theseat 12 reaches the reclined position, the bracket has moved upwardly in the direction of arrow B and has moved across therollers 86 so that the rollers occupy the forward end of thechannel 84 in the bracket. In this regard, the dotted lines in FIG. 2A indicate the position of the bracket when the seat is in an upright position. During this movement, the orientation of the forward seat portion has advantageously changed from a generally horizontal position to a sloped position, to comfortably accommodate the user's 14 legs. In particular, theforward edge 41 of the forward seat portion is oriented in a position that is lower than the now-raisedrearward edge 36 of that seat portion. Thus, the front edge of the seat assembly does not pivot upward and cause the user's legs to uncomfortably elevate from thefloor surface 26.

While a particular form of the invention has been illustrated and described, it will be apparent that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, it is not intended that the invention be limited, except as by the appended claims.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A chair comprising:

a base having an upwardly projecting support;

a seat having a central portion and a forward portion, the central portion pivotally mounted to the support of the base for pivoting about a first predetermined axis, the forward portion pivotally mounted to the central portion of the seat for pivoting about a second predetermined axis generally parallel to the first axis;

an arm fixedly mounted to the support of the base, the arm having a free end located in a fixed position with respect to the support; and

a bracket mounted on the forward portion of the seat, the bracket configured to slidably engage the free end of the arm to pivot the forward portion of the seat as the central portion of the seat pivots.

2. The chair of claim 1, wherein the arm is generally horizontal and includes a rod-like guide at its free end, the guide having two ends sized to slidably engage the bracket.

3. The chair of claim 2, wherein the bracket has opposing walls defining a channel sized to accept the guide therein.

4. The chair of claim 2, wherein the guide includes a roller mounted to each end of the guide.

5. The chair of claim 1, wherein the seat further includes a hinge that pivotally joins the forward portion to the central portion.

6. A chair comprising:

a base having an upwardly projecting support;

an arm fixedly mounted to the support of the base, the arm having a rod-shaped guide located in a fixed position with respect to the support; and

a bracket mounted on the forward portion of the seat, the bracket having an interior surface defining a channel sized to slidably engage the rod-shaped guide of the arm to pivot the forward portion of the seat as the central portion of the seat pivots.

7. The chair of claim 6, wherein the rod-shaped guide has two ends sized to engage the channel of the bracket.

8. The chair of claim 7, wherein the rod-shaped guide includes two opposing rollers, each roller mounted to an associated end of the rod-shaped guide.

9. The chair of claim 6, wherein the seat further includes a hinge that pivotally joins the forward portion to the central portion.

10. A chair comprising:

a base having a support extending upwardly from a plurality of generally horizontally extending legs;

a generally horizontal arm fixedly mounted to the support of the base, the arm having a free end located in a fixed position with respect to the support;

a rod-shaped guide mounted on the free end of the arm, the guide having two opposed ends spaced apart a predetermined distance;

two rollers, each mounted about one associated end of the rod-shaped guide on the free end of the arm;

a bracket mounted on the forward portion of the seat, the bracket having a back wall between two opposing L-shaped walls, the L-shaped walls spaced apart to slidably receive therein the rollers on the guide to pivot the forward portion of the seat as the central portion of the seat pivots.